“Liar,” Roman says as he comes in the room and drops his gear beside mine.
“What’s going on with you and Allie’s new friend?” he asks. “Because whatever is eating at you, it has to do with her.”
I shake my head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Nothing’s eating at me. I’m good.”
“Right.” Dominique cuffs me on the shoulder. “So good you can’t stop staring at the girl every time she walks into a room.”
“Drop it,” I snarl under my breath. “She’s unimportant.”
Dom snorts. “And you pissing all over the place to keep people away from her like she belongs to you totally supports that statement.”
I clench my jaw and glower. “I’m not pissing on anything.”
“Mentiroso,” Roman says.Liar.
I ignore them and head for the showers, but of course the fuckers follow me. “Bro, you’ve claimed her. The whole fucking school knows it too. You beat the shit out of Carson Bailey during practice because he said she had a nice rack. Which she does, by the way,” Dominique adds and my hands fist at my sides.
“See, that right there. That’s my point.” He indicates my tight fists and I force myself to relax, opening and closing them to bring back circulation. “I’m one of your best friends and you want to swing at me too. What the fuck, man?”
“Carson had it coming and you’re being a dick.” I stick my head under the running water and try and block out the voices of my friends as they do the same. Fucking Carson Bailey. He wanted her that night and the idiot made it known he was still interested. Sucks to be him though, because he’s not getting anywhere near Bibiana if I have any say about it. And trust me, I have a say.
“E—” Roman snaps.
I wipe the water from my eyes and grab the soap, lathering it in my hands to take off today’s layer of grime. “We hooked up. What’s the big fucking deal?”
“You still hooking up with Sarah?” he asks and isn’t that a loaded question. I tighten my jaw and rinse off the last of the suds before reaching for my towel and wrapping it around my waist.
“No.” I offer the single-word answer, knowing the fucker is going to read more into it than he should. I’m not hooking up with anyone else and it’s a fucking travesty because I should be. Sarah, Kathleen, Kaitlyn, I have a whole host of girls willing but none of them are her.
Neither Dom nor Roman say anything as we all dry off, getting dressed before heading for the exit. “What’s the plan tonight?” I ask as we make our way to the school parking lot. It’s Friday night and coach has us running two a day during playoffs since he’s a sadistic bastard. I’m ready for the weekend and need the time to recharge and get my head on straight.
Antonio is home this weekend. Shocker. My older brother usually makes an effort to be anywhere but home, yet decided he’d watch over our little sister, Sofia, giving me a much-needed break. Sofia is old enough to be home alone but Raul—I refuse to call that waste of space “Dad”—has been hanging around more than usual, and none of us trust him where she’s concerned.
I get that the man who contributed half of your DNA being home is probably normal for most families, but not for us. Not since Mom left. He spends most of his nights at the bar. Most of his days in some seedy motel with his flavor of the week. It’s better this way. Safer for Sofia. For all of us. But he never stays gone for long. Not as long as he should, at least. He comes by the house on a near-weekly basis and when he does, he’s usually drunk and angry. Never a good combination.
Lately, we’ve lucked out and Sofia’s been at a friend’s or kicking it at Roman’s with his mom when Raul’s stopped in. But I have a feeling our luck will run out eventually, which is why one of us is with Sofia at all times. And if we can’t be, either because of practice for me or work for Antonio, then we make sure to coordinate a sleepover with a friend or she spends time with Maria. Roman’s mom is the mom we never had and thank God she loves my sister as if she were her own.
Roberto should be here helping make sure she’s safe, but he enlisted the day he turned eighteen. It was fucked up when he left, but I can’t say I blame him.
“Dunno. Allie is kicking it at Bibiana’s with the babies and Henderson.”
“The babies?” I ask.
He smirks. “Yeah. Dom and Henderson’s baby sisters. The babies.”
Dominique scrubs a hand over his face. “Them meeting one another is going to come back and bite me in the ass.”
“You’re not wrong, man.” I grip his shoulder and grin. “And I cannot wait to see your downfall.”
He shrugs me off as we reach Roman’s El Camino and Dom’s Escalade. I rarely drive myself. Why bother when both of these two are control freaks and insist on driving. Nine times out of ten we’re going to the same place. We don’t need three rides to get there. “My place?” Roman asks and Dominique nods. I open the passenger door to Roman’s ride when a cell phone rings. I check my pocket, but it isn’t mine that’s ringing. Dominique pulls his out and stares down at the screen, a scowl on his face. “What the hell is Kasey calling me for?” he bites out, letting it go to voicemail. As soon as he shoves it back in his pocket, it starts ringing again.
“Looks like things are about to bite you in the ass sooner than you thought.”
He flips me the bird but answers the phone with a curt, “What?”
There’s shouting on the other line and I freeze, straining to pick up what she’s saying.
“Address?” Dom bites out. “Lock yourselves in a fucking bathroom if you have to, got it?”
